The Traditional Death Metal scene is strong, with lots of bands playing in the style of the old days. Entrails are at the forefront Swedish Death Metal, and having recently released their second LP, I spoke to front man Jimmy Lundqvist...
Hi Jimmy, can you give us a bit of background history on Entrails?
Hey Matt! Sure I can give you some short history, the long one is written on Myspace.
Me and some friends started Entrails in the very early 90´s and I think it was in early 1991 we had a complete band doing some Death Metal in my home village in South Sweden. After a few years the other half wanted to move and do other things so in 1994 I decided to close down the band, there was no other option since there was no one else around to take their place.
During the years we had together, we tried to record some demos but with no money to get us a real sound engineer, the results of the songs were so bad that we kept them for ourselves, sad but true. We really wanted to have some songs released but it was totally impossible to have get it done well and so the years went on...
In around 2007- 2008 I found my old recordings and many more cool things in an old box where I kept all my tapes from the 90´s, and after some time listening I become so nostalgic that I said that "This shit deserves to be released.." and by June 2009 Entrails had put down their feet and risen one more time.
How did you come up with the band name? A few people say that your logo is similar to Entombed, was this intentional or was that just the way it turned out?
Haha, not a few - almost everyone just has to mention it! Well, in the beginning we were seeking a grotesque name and in a library we found the name Entrails, and at the same time we were also searching for an old looking font to use when our drummer at that time found the font that Nihilist, Carnage, Bathory, God Macabre and also Entombed used so we ended up in that font as well. Unfortunatly the first three letters are the same as Entombed´s so the similarities are not hard to miss.
Your two demos were a really cool slice of old school sounding Death Metal. Did they both sell well and were you happy with them?
Yeah they turned out to be pretty good. They become popular very quickly and a french guy had the first one 'Reborn' released on tape, and from that day Entrails grew a bit every day.
They´re all sold out now i think, and many are asking for re-presses of the CD´s, so maybe later this year we´ll make some more..
I was glad finally have some of my old songs released even though I did used a forbidden tool in a drum machine in remaking them but I just couldn't find me a drummer at that time.
What do you think about the explosion of old school sounding Death Metal in recent years? Are you proud to be a part of it?
To me its a good thing to be a part of it since I missed it first time. but I think this shit in calling it 'old school' has become too much, I mean every band is now saying they´re playing old school and to me that's bullshit. For me old school started 1988 and ended 1992, then it progressed and the music became more technical stuff and involved. Today mostly all of the bands play too technical and without any passion from the old style and the simple riffs and to me that's more like brutal/technical/melodic Death Metal and not old school, this is just my own opinion.
You signed to FDA Rekortz for the debut album, did this work out well for you?
Yep, Rico from FDA asked about the first release and if I am looking back, we are pretty satisfied. I don't know what we´ve missed by signing with him, we could have it re-released on a bigger label the near future which could sell even more, I don't know.
Are you pleased with both your albums and the way they turned out? Is there anything you would have done differently given the chance?
Hmm... yeah I am satisfied I think. There are some things here and there that could be done in another way but we are pleased with the way they turned out.
What do you think of UK Death Metal and are there any bands you particularly admire?
I must say am a terrible listener to music from other countrys but some bands I do know, like Carcass and Bolt Thrower, they were huge inspirations in the 90´s.
What future plans do you have with Entrails?
In 2012 we will release one more album if everything goes as planned and do some major shows at Summer Breeze for an example, and some other places in Germany and Sweden, then only the future can tell what will happen to the band.
22 years ago, did you think that Death Metal would still be around today? Does it surprise you that it has stood the test of time and do you think it will still be around in another 20 years?
At the time I didn't think so but as the style carried on along the years, now I'm not that surprised and I think people liked the past more than the new shit that's around these days.
Death Metal seems to have gone full circle and there are now many new bands playing in the style of the late 80's and early 90's. What do you think about this?
Very cool if they're doing it as it was done back then. There are many bands who are doing this very well and playing the way it used to be with no involvement of new shit.
There are a lot of bands who seem to have made a bit of a come back over the last few years like Autopsy, Massacre, Pestilence and Carcass. Do you think that this shows that Death Metal is stronger than ever?
Yeah I think so, if the good old bands still deliver then the Death Metal will always be strong.
To keep it alive is a must and to have the same passion for the music and not to mix with new shit, it should sound and play as if it was torn up from the grave!
Any last words?
Keep on buying and support the bands you like, and they will continue to deliver damn good tunes to you.
Hope to see you out there some day banging your head off!
Thanks Jimmy. Make sure you support Entrails by buying their albums, both of which are available from FDA Rekortz. You can check out the band on Myspace and also Facebook.
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